Knockdown crate



Patented Feb. 15,1921.

INVENTOR A TTORNE V UNITED STATES ARTHUR J. COLE, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN.

KNOCKDOWN CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

Application filed May 28, 1920. Serial No. 384,940.

To all w ham 5?? may co /10cm Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. Coin, acitizen of the United States residing at Saginaw, in the county. ofaginaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Knockdown Crates; andI do hereby dcclarethe following tobe a. full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appcrtains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to crates, and pertains more particularlyto-knockdown crates such as are employed for the shipment of automobileengines and similar heavy pieces of machinery.

As is well known, machinery of this class is shipped in greatquantities, from the production factories to the factories in which themachinery is to be assembled in the completed vehicle.

l'lereto'lore crates have been employed for shipping such machines, butsince the crates are oi" necessity very, heavy and strong, they haveusually beenreturned to the point of departure, either completely setup, or knocked down, but to return them in the knockdown condition, thesides and ends have usually been taken apart by removing bolts and nuts.

This method of disassembling the crates for return shipment has resultedin more or less breakage and ultimately a lack of rigidity in the crate,due to wear caused by re peated shipment.

It is the object of my present invention to provide a knockdown cratefor the purpose described, the sides, cradles and ends of the cratebeing so arranged that they can be quickly assembled and taken apart,without unfastening bolts and nuts and consequently without weakeningthe structure for future shipments.

My improvement also enables the weight of the engine to be carriedentirely upon the main sills, thus relieving the side and end frames ofundue strain.

A still further object is to provide an improved means for fastening theends to the two sides, whereby the endsserve not only to hold the frametogether, but also to act as a clamp to draw the parts together and holdthem rigidly.

With the foregoing and certain other objects in view which will appearlater in the specification, my invention comprises the devices describedand claimed and the equivalents thereof.

In the drawings, F igure 1 is a perspective YlGW of a completed cratewith one end partly removed.

Fig. 2 1s a perspective detail, showing the manner of securing the lowerpart of one of the ends of the crate to the lower part of the sideframe.

Fig. 3 is a perspective detail, showingthe upper connection between thesides and ends.

Fig. l an enlarged detail, showing the (lOllZllBCtlll membersillustrated in Fig. 3.

111g. 5 is a perspective view, showing out of the sills and the lockingdevice by which the main engine support or cradle is fastened to thesill. 7

In the drawings, 1, 1 are the sills, which carry the mainengine-supporting cradles.

and 3 are the removable cradles comprising the. main engine support. Thesides of the crate consist of the sills 1, 1, theoorner uprights 4 and 5and the top rail 6 secured thereto. A diagonal brace connects the topred at one end with the opposite end of Slll 1.

To receive the main engine support 2, a vertical block 8 is secured tosill 1 and to the corner support 15 and the cradle 2 is received betweenthis block and an upright 9, as shownin Fig. 1. Similarly asecond mainengine support 3 is removably received between the two uprights 10 and11.

The end of the support 2 is notched as at .12 to take over the sill 1,as indicated in Figs. 1 and 5.

Block 8 and upright 9 prevent sidewise movement oi the cradle 2 and theuprights 10 and 11 similarly prevent sidewise movement of the cradle Theweight of the engine resting upon the cradles 2 and 3 is thereby broughtdirectly upon sills 1, 1. To prevent sidewise move ment of the sills 1,1, I provide a suitable locking or fastening device to removably connectthe cradle ends with the sills. One form of this device is shown in Fig.1, where 18 is a bar or lug secured to the end of the engine support andprojecting downwardly on the outside of sill 1.

A modified formoi' fastener is shown in Fig. 5, where 14 is a laterallyprojecting retaining lug carried by the cradle 2 and adapted to bereceived between the upright 9 and an oil-set bar 15 secured to upright9.

the crate end 16, so that both pins, as 17' may be simultaneouslyinserted in the lugs 18, while the crate end is tilted outwardly, asshown in Fig. 1. When the crate end is swung up to its vertical positionthe angularly disposed pins and lugs lock together. The top edges of thecrate end are secured to the top rails 6 by the fastening shown in Figs.3 and 4C, or its equivalent, where-an angular lug 19 having a squareaperture 19 therein, is adapted to receive the looped head 20 of abracket 21, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The two members 19 and 21 are thereupon held together by a rectangularwooden pin orwedge 22, which is driven through the looped head 20 ofbracket 21.

This wooden pin is not likely to be jarred loose, as would be the casewith a bolt or similar fastening and no wrench is required to remove itwhen taking the crate apart. 1

By the means above described I have produced an extremely strong anddurable, yet simple crate construction that is capable of being quicklyput togetherand taken apart and that can be packed in small space forreturn shipment. The weight of the engine or other article to be carriedis carried directly upon the sills, and the main engine supports orcradles in addition serve to hold the crate together in a rigidrectangular form.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patcut is: V p V 1. In a. knockdown crate, the combination of apair of sills, an upright member at the end of each sill, removablecradles formed with notched ends to engage said sills, upright memberssecured to said sills and spaced apart to receive said cradles betweenthem, a crate end, a pair of downwardly and inwardly projecting pinssecured to the lower end of said crate end, a pair of angularly disposedapertured lugs secured to the sides ofthe crate and adapted to receivesaid pins, a pair of apertured angular lugs secured to the sides of thecrate at the upper ends thereof, a bracket having a loop received insaid aperture and a removable pin received in said aperture,substantially as described.

2. In a knockdown crate, the combination of a pair of sills, uprightsspaced apart and secured to said sills, cradles formed with notched endsadapted to rest upon said sills and received between said uprights,retaining lugs carried by said cradles and adapted to engage said sills,and removable" crate ends secured to said sills, for the purposes setforth. I

3. In a knockdown crate having sills and upright members secured to theends of said sills, removable crate ends, said. crate ends having attheir lower edges downwardly and inwardly projecting pins, angular lugssecured to said sills and formed with apertures to receive said pins,angularlugs secured to the upper ends of said upright members, andangular brackets secured to said crate ends and adapted to'engage saidlugs, and removable pins received in said brackets and lugs, for thepurposes set forth.

4. In a crate having sills and cradles formedwith notched ends to engagesaid sills, a fastening device for said cradles comprising an offset barcarried by said sill and an outwardly projecting lug carried by theopposite cradle and adaptedto releasably engage said offset bar, for thepurposes set fort 5. In a crate having sills and upright members at theends of said sills and top rails connecting the upper ends of saidupright members, a top fastening comprising an apertured lug secured toone of said members, a bracket having a looped head adapted to bereceived in said apertured lug, said bracket secured to a top rail, anda plug removably inserted in the looped head of said bracket,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

. ARTHUR J. COLE.

